Rows are diffusion segments: who moves when, on any change. Columns are stages of change: where each person stands on this one. Adoption stalls cell by cell, and each cell responds to a different move. The full argument and sources are in the essay at tdcatalyst.com/sail/field-note-the-adoption-matrix.
| Segment | Precontemplation | Contemplation | Preparation | Action / Maintenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Innovators & Early Adopters ~16% |
Nobody has asked them. Sponsor reaches out directly. | Ready to talk. Early access plus talking points for peers. | About to start. Clear every obstacle; make week one a success story. | Quiet experts. Make them visible: champion network, public credit. |
| Early Majority, the pragmatists ~34% |
No link to their job yet. A 15-minute peer call from their own function. | Waiting for proof. Ship the whole product: toolkit, integrations, stories from their function. | Willing but no cue. Give one: when X happens this week, do Y. | Started, could drift. Manager check-ins, coaching circles, peer momentum. |
| Late Majority, the skeptics ~34% |
Waiting feels safe. Show the cost of sitting out. | Unspoken doubts. A call with someone like them who moved past the same fear. | Afraid of failing in public. Smallest first step, a buddy, a manager script. | Fragile new habit. Visible credit, a word from the executive. |
| Laggards ~16% |
Resisting from fear. One-on-one only; find the real fear, address that. | Wavering but wary. Manager and skip-level conversations, support named. | Only with help at their side. Office hours, a pre-built path, reassurance. | Moved, wants no attention. Quiet recognition, steady support. |
Where campaigns lose. Most budgets go to the top-left cell and the top-right cell. Adoption is won or lost in the middle two rows, in the contemplation and preparation columns. That is where two-thirds of your population lives.
This worksheet computes as you type. Enter your percentages below; the matrix shades by population, your three biggest cells surface with their interventions, and printing produces your completed map. Entries stay in this browser only; nothing is sent anywhere.
Use prior change initiatives, not guesses. Who showed up first last time? Who never came? Percentages of your target population (the diffusion defaults are pre-filled; overwrite them with your own):
Survey data and engagement signals beat intuition. Rough percentages per row; each row should sum to 100. The small number under each entry is that cell's share of your whole population.
| Precontemplation | Contemplation | Preparation | Action / Maint. |
|---|
Computed from your numbers, with the intervention from the matrix on page 1 and the leading indicator to review every two weeks. Choose by size, even when a smaller cell is louder, and resist building for every cell at once.
Enter your stage percentages above and the three biggest cells appear here.
You have the cells. The order the interventions run in decides whether they compound: sequence them in the Transformation Dynamics Simulation™.
If the biggest cell will not move with a worksheet, that is the Adoption Reset engagement: tdcatalyst.com/grow.